Book Review

Title: Snowglobe (The Snowglobe Duology) by Soyoung Park

Genre: Translated, Science Fiction, Dystopian

Synopsis:

Enclosed under a vast dome, Snowglobe is the last place on Earth that’s warm. Outside Snowglobe is a frozen wasteland, and every day, citizens face the icy world to get to their jobs at the power plant, where they produce the energy Snowglobe needs. Their only solace comes in the form of twenty-four-hour television programming streamed directly from the domed city.

The residents of Snowglobe have everything: fame, fortune, and above all, safety from the desolation outside their walls. In exchange, their lives are broadcast to the less fortunate outside, who watch eagerly, hoping for the chance to one day become actors themselves.

Chobahm lives for the time she spends watching the shows produced inside Snowglobe. Her favorite? Goh Around, starring Goh Haeri, Snowglobe’s biggest star—and, it turns out, the key to getting Chobahm her dream life.

Because Haeri is dead, and Chobahm has been chosen to take her place. Only, life inside Snowglobe is nothing like what you see on television. Reality is a lie, and truth seems to be forever out of reach.

Translated for the first time into English from the original Korean, Snowglobe is a groundbreaking exploration of personal identity, and the future of the world as we know it. It is the winner of the Changbi X Kakaopage Young Adult Novel Award.

Content Warning: torture, murder, forced work, socioeconomic inequality

Rating: 4 Stars

I have read a lot of Japanese translated works before but recently I’ve seen a rise in Korean translated works becoming very popular, so when I saw a blog tour for Snowglobe I knew I had to sign up. The synopsis really intrigued me as it seems like a combination of several other books or movies I’ve loved like Snowpiercer and a little of the Hunger Games.

The opening to Snowglobe introduces us to a near future where the average temperature is -50 and the only place that is climate controlled is a place known as the Snowglobe but only the elite get to live there. Our protagonist, Chobahm dreams of getting into the Snowglobe but you need to be an actor or director in order to get in since everything inside the Snowglobe is filmed to entertain the masses outside. Her twin brother, Ongi and herself are caring for their grandmother with dementia and on their way to work one day they encounter Miryu, a former resident of the Snowglobe. Her “show” involved her killing several men and ultimately her show was cancelled and Miryu kicked out but she is now an outcast in this wasteland society. This definitely had an interesting premise and I can’t wait to see where it goes.

After work, Chobahm and Ongi come across Miryu in the freezing temperatures and Chobahm risks her life in order to get the woman somewhere safe despite her past. We also learn around this time that their father died before they were born when a bus broke down in the cold and someone had to get to the plant to summon help. Their father volunteered costing his life but saving their mother and them as well as many more. There she is approached by people from the Snowglobe offering her a chance to go there under the guise of being Haeri, an actress who recently committed suicide. Chobahm agrees because it will give her the opportunity to get into film school afterwards but from the beginning something isn’t right. Miryu warns her that it isn’t what it seems and when Director Cha kills her driver by opening the plane door and letting him be sucked out Chobahm realises that this might be more dangerous than she originally thought. With Chobahm now at the Snowglobe pretending to be Haeri, I think she is going to try and figure out why she committed suicide since she seemingly had the perfect life and it might get dark.

Her first night in the Snowglobe is a major challenge for Chobahm since she doesn’t really know the inner workings of Haeri’s life and she is being thrown in at the deep end. She has to attend tea with the most prestigious family in the Snowglobe and the a banquet but luckily most of the people there are new to the Snowglobe and don’t know much about her personally. However, we can see there is something strange going on especially when Chobahm Enoch tears her friend who doesn’t even recognise her despite her not having the same mannerisms as Haeri. During this party she is hit on by a man who she ends up attacking much to the surprise and delight of everyone but in running from him she finds something strange. It seems that the mirrors act as portals to the frozen wastelands but before she can investigate further she collapse from the flu. It might seem trivial but in this world flu and cold isn’t a thing in th eoutside world due to the temperature they only exist inside the Snowglobe.

After a little while, Chobahm is finding her feet as Haeri despite the grief and agony she sees from Haeri’s mother. Despite noticing that there are some strange things going on within the Snowglobe and there always seems to be an air of tension around everyone, she is coming to enjoy the lifestyle she has been given. At an annual athletic competition, Haeri gets asked on a date by the champion Jehon, and this is the moment that Chobahm realises that this life is everything she has ever wanted and doesn’t want to ever return to her life before. In a discussion with Director Cha, she asks about film school but Cha makes her a counteroffer of becoming Haeri for good because she has what it takes, an inner strength and ruthlessness that the real Haeri seemed to lack. However, in accepting this Chobahm would essentially disappear claiming to be made a director straight out of film school and only occasionally seeing her family and Chobahm is seriously considering it knowing her family will be taken care of.

While I normally tend to read science fiction and fantasy, Snowglobe which is a dystopian ended up becoming a really unique read especially for a translation. I also liked the fact there were only the smallest hints at a romance so it didn’t steal the show from what was happening in the Snowglobe. In the second half of the book there were so many twists and turns that there is no way to predict the ending. It was an intense and suspenseful read filled with secrets and a lot of suspicious people coupled with plenty of twists that keep you at the edge of your seat. Chobahm was a great character and I loved her development in this book and look forward to the next one to get some much needed questions answered, especially about those strange mirrors since it is never touched upon in this book really.

About the Author:

Soyoung Park majored in communication and media at university. She is a winner of the Original Story Award and the Changbi X Kakaopage Young Adult Novel Award. She is the author of the Snowglobe duology.

Buy it here: Barnes & Noble IndieBound

Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk                                       amazon.com

Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk                                              amazon.com

I received this review copy for consideration from TBR and Beyond Tours.